316-Year-Old Lost Mendelssohn Stradivarius Finally Found

By Jingwei Zhao

The Mendelssohn, a violin created in 1709 by Italian luthier Antonio Stradivari, was presumed to have been destroyed or lost after World War II. However, experts believe that a Japanese violinist is the current owner, who acquired the precious instrument in 2005.

The Mendelssohn-Bohnke family initially deposited the instrument into a bank safe located in Berlin between 1928 and 1938, but it was stolen near the end of World War II. Although the family searched for the instrument many decades after it was stolen, they were unable to find their violin, worth millions. It was eventually labeled as lost or destroyed.

However, Carla Shapreau, a senior fellow at the Institute of European Studies at the University of California, Berkeley, may have just discovered the priceless instrument. Shapreau had been searching for the instrument for over a decade, and she believes that a violin named Stella, held at a 2018 Stradivarius instruments exhibition in Tokyo, could be the Mendelssohn she is looking for.

The Stella had matching curves and contours with the Mendelssohn, and the wear on both violins was perfectly aligned as well. Jason Price, the founder of the Tarisio auction house in New York, managed to acquire the violin in 2000, but failed to sell it.

At the time, since Price knew little about the instrument’s history, he was unable to identify its origin or find more specifications. However, upon more recent inspection, Price and other experts became convinced it was the Mendelssohn.

“They obviously are the same. When you look at the photographs side by side, you see the peculiarities of the wear patterns, the dings, the dents, the scratches. It is the same violin. There’s no question about that, and I don’t think anyone would have a reasonable case in saying they aren’t,” Price explained.

Curator of stringed instruments Jean-Philippe Échard also inspected the images and remarked, “It’s quite impossible to have two old objects that have exactly the same appearance. They cannot be the same like that. It’s only one instrument.”

Stradivari made over 1,000 stringed instruments throughout his life, and around 500 remain in circulation to this day. A few of them have even been sold at prices around $20 million. Stradivarius instruments are incredibly sought-after due to their better projection and more powerful sound. Given that his instruments have great historical value and are visually stunning, with the Mendelssohn being no different, the prices for his pieces are very expensive. Now, the Mendelssohn appears to be in the hands of 54-year-old Japanese musician Eijin Nimura.

On his website, Nimura describes himself as an “UNESCO Artist for Peace,” and he plays in concerts to honor natural disaster victims. Since last fall, Shapreau has attempted to discuss more about Stella with him, but Nimura declined. He has also chosen not to respond to the New York Times or the Mendelssohn-Brohnke family regarding the instrument.

As for how the violin ended up in Nimura’s hands, it is quite a long story. After the instrument was stolen from the Mendelssohn Bronke family at the end of World War II, a Russian violinist managed to acquire it in 1953 after purchasing it from a German Dealer in Moscow. Then, the Russian violinist attempted to sell it to Parisian luthier Bernard Sabatier.

Sabatier brought the violin to a dealership in London, where it was verified as a Stradivarius. According to Sabatier, the Russian sold the violin to a Swiss dealer, and by 2000, it ended up at the Tarisio auction house. It failed to sell at the auction house. According to business records that Shapreau tracked down, the violin made its way to Nimura in 2005, with a statement of provenance saying that the instrument had been “in the possession of a noble family which has been living in Holland since the times of the French Revolution.” Machold Rare Violins, a leading German dealer at the time, created a certificate of authenticity that officially made Nimura the owner of the violin.

David Rosenthal, a member of the Mendelssohn-Brohnke family, also attempted to contact Nimura the past fall. Rosenthal had connections to the instrument as well, since he recalled his grandmother playing a violin that was stolen during the war, which he believes is the Mendelssohn. However, Nimura’s lawyer, Yoshie Tsuruta, has labeled the continuous questioning from Rosenthal and Shapreau as harassment, leaving Rosenthal in an unfortunate position. Price estimates the Mendelssohn to be worth up to $5 million, but Rosenthal explains that the instrument is “more than a material loss.”

“My mother was a pianist. My uncle was a pianist. My grandmother was a musician who loved to play this violin. My grandfather was a conductor. The fact that it has been discovered after all this time really shakes us up. The violin is part of us. Music is part and parcel of our family. We just want a resolution,” he said. Although the violin is a part of the Mendelssohn-Brohnke family, “Eijin Nimura is the owner of Antonio Stradivari ‘Stella’ of 1707,” states his official website.